Shielding structure against insects



July` l1, 1939. D. M MUIRHEAD SHIELDING sTRuTURE AGAINST Iusnc'rs FiledJul 22,' 19:58

edd

Patented July 11, 1939.

' UNITED STATES PATENToFl-lca My present invention relates to the"construcytion of foundations and walls receiving timbers, sills and thelike which are to be protected against invasion by termites or otherinsects, and to builders hardware for in such construction. A commonplan and-perhaps the best plan for protection against termites and thelike is a shield A of sheetmaterial, generally `metlalliqinsertedbetween the foundation or wall and the associated wood element, thelatter being anchored by bolts or threaded anchors' projecting from thewall and passing through apertures in the shield. .The bolt or anchorapertures in this shield generally do not t the bolts snugly, and haveheretofore af' forded space through which insects such as termites canpass to the wood element from below. Termite infestation-which lmay be-a. terrible thinghas as its essential element a place of abode in theground outside the house connected with the place of damage inthe houseby a tube oravenue of approach which the termites rhave a genius forgetting across.

In accordance with the invention a simple, inexpensive and eicientmethod andmeans are provided for sealing these bolt-receiving aper--tures in insulating sheets or shields of foundation and like wallstructures such as referred to and thus crowning with success humanefforts to outwit and outdo the, termite or other insect.

In the drawing-illustrating by way .of example one form of meansembodying the invention 'and whereby the method thereof may bepracticed;

Fig. 1 is a vertical section ofthe upper portion of a foundation walland associated sill anchored and insulated in. accordance with theinvention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged sectional views of two opposed crimping orsealing elements for the shield, said elements being seen in'eoperativeposition in Fig. 1; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are plan views of said elements. looking at them asindicated by the arrows on Figs. 2 and 3 respectively. I

Referring to the drawing in more detail, and

rstrtoFig. i, I have there represented at 6 the` upper portion of afoundation wall or the like. 0n this wall is to be fastened a wood sillor other timber l, shown in position, and which is to be insulated by asheet element'or shield 8 disposed atwise between it and the wall. Suchshield is provided essentially for the purpose of blocking access te thesill by termites or like insects traveling along a surface f theunderlying wall or through creeks and crevices in it. Sheet metal,preferably non-corrosive, such as copper or Monel metal, is generallyemployed for this pur- =a:long the bolts.

pose; being' provided in strips of a width to extend completely acrossthe top, surface of .the wall and to project at one or both sides of the`latter substantially` as illustrated. The outer edges of suchprojecting portions of the shield are downturned at an obtuse angle, orotherwise shaped with the ambition of blocking termites and otherinsects.

Such metallic shielding element is ordinarily I supplied in strips ofsubstantial length, say 6 to 8 feet, so that the number of J'oints orseams between adjoining strips is kept to the minimum. These shieldingstrips are pierced at appropriate points to receive the sill anchorbolts, one onlyA of which is seen in Fig. 1, indicated as a whole by thenumeral lli.

The apertures for the passage of these anchor V bolts generally areformed on the job, as the strip is installed. It is impracticable orsubstantially impossible to locate and fashion the apertures with such'accuracy that their edges will fit snuglyaround the correspondingbolts. This 4is due to substantially unavoidable irregularities in thedistribution of the anchor bolts along the wall, and tothe diiiculty ofmatching the apertures to conform to the bolts. Thus heretofore instructures such as referred to there have existed substantial gaps ofmore or less irregular size and shape between the shield and the boltspassing through it, as indicated by way of example alt 9 in Fig. 1. Ihave found that such open spaces or gaps operate substantially todestroy the eiciency of the shield.' They offer ready entrance pointsfor insects such as termites, which are able somehow to find their wayto them, traveling across or through cracks in the wall at some pointbelow the metal shield until they reach and move past the barrier bygoing upwardly As above stated, it isa main object of my presentinvention to provide for eiectively sealing these bolt apertures.

The bolts lll such as seen by way of example in Fig. 1 may be ofstandard construction in all respects not otherwise mentioned. Eachanchor bolt has a head -or other projection H at its end portion whichis to be embedded in the concrete or masonry of the wall olotherstructure, .the head being of rectangular, hexagonal. round or othershape as preferred. The thread I2 of the anchor bolt is`extendedcontinuously from the surfaces will` come flush with the top ofthe wall,

nated at a point not more than about 11/2 inches from the head. The boltis of the usual or preferred length to extend through the timber or sillwhich it isA to secure, and to project sufficiently beyond the latterfor the reception of a washer I3 and securing nut I4. For a 4 x 6 inchsill, for example, set with its wide f ace horizontal an 8' or 9 inchbolt usually will be adequate.

The sealing means proper as employed in accordance with my invention,and adapted for cooperation with the metal shield and the anchor boltssuch as described, comprises, for each bolt, a pair of cooperatingelements I5, I6 in the nature of nuts, having through apertures I'I andI8 threaded for reception on the corresponding bolts.

round, hexagonal or otherwise, being represented as square in Figs. 4and 5.

Each such pair of sealing or crimping-elements includes an inner orbottom element I5 below or at the Wall side of the metal shield and anouter or upper element I6 at the timber side. In the construction of thefoundation wall the anchorbolts are set in place in the usual mannerbefore the upper section is completed. Also before the pouring orbuilding, the lower nuts I5 are positioned on the bolts, at such heightthat their upper faces will come flush with thetop of the nished wall.Desirably also the outer nuts I6 are temporarily'threaded on to thebolts and into contact or substantial contact with the inner nuts,v

to assist in holding the vlatter in place and to protect their upperfaces from being covered or dirtied byy the concrete mix or mortar.

The two sealing elements or nuts I5 and I6 for each bolt have formed attheir opposed apertured faces annular concentric cooperable crimpingformations I9 and 20. In the illustrated example these comprise a femaleformation or groove I9 on one of the elements, herein the one shown inthe lower position, and a correspondingly shaped and similarly disposedmale formation orrib 20 on the other element. Said formations I9, 20have a cross sectional form substantially as illustrated, of arcuate orapproximately semi-,circular sectional outline. Their opposite sidewalls accordingly are somewhat tapering, those of the rib or bead 20being divergent toward the base of said formation, and thoseof thegroove or channel I9 similarly diverging away from the base of thelatter. Thus when the two sealing elements or nuts are brought intoproximity on'the bolts, by turning one or the other or both of them,usually only the upper one, the describedl annular formations ontlieir`adjacent faces come into mating relation. They may be formed to provides ome small clearance between them in the completely contacting positionof the nuts. Thus the latter are adapted to.

engage and,I crimp a sheet element such as the shield 8, between them'.l;

In operation, the concrete or' masonry top ofthe wall, foundation orthelike is poured or built,

with the anchor boltsset in place, the lower elements or nuts I5 of thesealing device being set at the desired level, namely, such that theirtop and the outer or upper nuts desrably being temporarily installed inholding and protecting position. In preparation for installing thetimber or sill 'I the upper nuts, if in positiomare removed and themetal slreld il is placed flatwiscTonto .the 4top of the wall, theanchor bolts I0 being received through the apertures provided in thetion it is unnecessary to take great-care to arrange the bolts and theshield apertures in exact conformity or so that the edges of the boltholes t snugly against the bolts. Hence the shield may be pierced andset onto the bolts' more rapidly and with less expert workmanship thanheretofore required.

The upper or outer sealing elements or nuts I6 are then placed on andscrewed downupon the several bolts, being turned down tightly onto thetop face of thev shield 8. In so doing, the male sealing formation 20represented in this instance as on the upper element, forces and crimpsthe metal of the shield 8 into the female formation.

- I9 on the other element. The opposite side edges These elements may beof any preferred shape.

, beyond the aperture in the shield.

Thus there is provided a tight metal-to-metal seal which is imperviousto the passage of termites or other insects. It will be noted that thecorners or side edges of the Atwo sealing formations are rounded off, toavoid cutting of the sheet metal as the sealing elements are screwedtogether. With the shield and bolts thus sealed the wall is readytoreceive the timber or sill 'I, the latter having the bolt aperturestherein countersunk or recessed at their inner ends to accommodate thesealing nuts I6. By reason of the pair of sealing nuts engaging theopposite faces of the shield the nuts I4 at the outer ends of the boltsmay be turned down onto the timber as forcibly as desired, withoutdanger of rupturing the shield, the stress being taken by the sealingnuts and transferred by them directly to the wall itself.

In the described manner, access to any space between the shield and thebolt is completely blocked, in part by the threaded engagement of thenuts or sealing elements themselves with the bolt, andfurther, in theplane of the top of the wall 6, by the described doublecrimping-formation effected by the interaction of the sealing formationof said elements. It will be understood that either the male or thefemale nuts I5 and I6 may be employed in either the upper or the lowerposition, the particular arrangement illustrated in the drawingbeingselected merely for the purposes of illustration. Obviously also thecrimp-effecting formations may be provided at .both apertured faces ofany or all the nuts,

providinggbolt-surrounding crimp-effecting for mations metallicallyconnected to the bolts, protecting said formations during the completionof said Wallportion, aperturing a metallic or other -sheet insulatingelement'in but approximate conformityto the spacing of the bolts,positioning the insulating element on the wall and bolts, and

thereafter crimping the insulating element con'- contrically about andalong lines spaced from A each bolt.

`It will be understood that my invention, either as lto means or method,is not limited to the exemplary embodiment or steps herein illustratedor described, and I set forth its scope in my following claims.

` I claim.:

1. An insect-insulated foundation structure for buildings Comprising, incombination, a founda- 75 aioasoo tion wall, anchor bolts set in andprojecting from a timber-receiving face of the wall, a metallic shieldstrip extending'across and in contact with said wall face, said striphaving apertures for the bolts, and means for sealing the stripperpherally -of said apertures, said means comprising, for each bolt, alaterally projecting element positioned thereon so as to set flush withthe face of the foundation wall at which the bolt projects, acooperating element threaded' onto the bolt aty the opposite face of theshield strip, and cooperating annular male and female formations on theadjacent faces of said elements serving to crimp the shield stripbetween them and concentrically of the bolt. l

2. Means for sealing the bolt holes of shielding strips between afoundation and a timber,

comprising, in .combination with an anchor bolt tobe set inthefolmdation so as to project through the timber, a pair of nutlikeelements having threaded apertures for receiving the bolt, one of saidelements having in one of its aperfthem. /Mlel trically of itsbolt-aperture, and the other element having a correspo 1y disposedannular rib adapted to enter channel sumciently to crimp and seal a f 1strip to be received between the completion of said foundation portion,aper turing a metallic or other sheet insulating element in butapproximate conformity to the spacing of the bolts, positioning theinsulating element on the wall and bolts, and thereafter 'crimping theinsulating element concentrically about and along lines spacedi'romveach bolt.

,""DONALDM tured' faces an annular channel formed concen-

